Coming Undone
by ExOnEv
Summary: After Reid doesn't show up for work and has been missing for a couple days, Morgan is finally able to find him, but it seems one of his own worst fears has come true. Morgan/Reid
1. Chapter 1

**Coming Undone**

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When Spencer Reid hadn't shown up for work Monday, it was worrisome. No phone call, no messages… nothing.

Tuesday… Still no word from Reid. That sinking feeling in Morgan's gut turned his worry into fear and as he stood inside Reid's kitchen and looked around. He immediately dialed Hotch. "I don't know what to make of this," Morgan told him as he stared at the floor. "He's not here. There's no note... There's a broken glass on the floor. It looks like he stepped on some of it and bled." He heard Hotch sigh on the other end of the phone. "His car's out front, but he ain't here. He's just… gone."

That morning, it was confirmed Reid hadn't left any sort of paper trail. There were no flights home to Nevada, no spending since the prior Saturday and word was spread within the local law enforcement that they had a missing FBI Agent. As soon as it could be officially done, a missing persons report was filed.

As they could, the individual team members looked for Reid by driving around, walking the streets and asking passersby. No one had seen him.

Then finally, a phone call got transferred to Morgan. Reid had been spotted only blocks from the building he lived in. Morgan immediately headed over to the address, finding that it was a small diner he knew Reid frequented. When he walked inside, the owner was waiting…

"I've never seen him like this." The old man dropped his line of sight and the concern on his face was very clear. "He's been over in that corner by himself, but you'd never know it from all the talking."

_Oh, no…_ "When did he show up?" Morgan asked trying to remain professional. He could see Reid under a hanging light as he sat in a booth facing the entrance. Morgan could hear him mumbling as he stood there with the owner.

"Oh…" the old man looked up at the clock behind the counter. "He doesn't come in every night, but when he does, it's usually at the same time. And that's when he showed up… about 7pm, I think…" Morgan watched as the man rubbed his shaking hand over the top of his sparsely gray haired head. "He just walked in. He sat down. Didn't say a word until he'd been here for about twenty minutes. My waitress said he started flinching whenever she'd walk by him. She said he yelled at her a couple times to… Well…" he stopped for a moment to let his memory catch up with him. "He told her to stay away once and something else about knowing all of her secrets." Morgan remained patient and listening. "We put food in front of him and he wouldn't eat it. Claimed we were trying to poison him. He looks… He looks horrible. Needs a shower. I didn't know he was missing... He talks about you guys all the time." He looked up at Morgan with great distress in his eyes. "He's troubled. I thought I should call someone."

Morgan put his hand on the old man's shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze. "You did the right thing. Thank you."

"I'm gonna lock up, but… take as much time as you need."

Morgan felt sorry for the old man. He was way too old to be workin' so late or at all. He figured he couldn't afford to retire, like so many others his age.

He took a deep breath and turned to look at Reid and slowly began to make his way toward him. He could feel his pulse begin to race because God damn it, he was scared. He did _not_ want to see Reid like this. And for this to be something Reid feared for himself just made it all the more heartbreaking. He watched Reid carefully as he began to inch his way to the back of the restaurant. He could still hear Reid talking, but he couldn't make out any detail of what he was saying. He saw Reid's hand came up and point across the table… to no one. Morgan closed his eyes for just a second, trying not to react emotionally. As he got closer, he saw Reid smile and laugh and just as quickly, his face changed and he spoke through his teeth in anger… at no one.

This frightened Morgan to his core. His friend was lost right now and would probably remain lost unless he got treatment. He only hoped that Reid would come with him without a fight. All these scenarios began to play in his head… worst case scenarios. What if Reid became violent? _What if I have to hurt him?_ And that brought up another concern… He didn't know if Reid had his weapon on him or not. "Reid?" he tested… No acknowledgement, no vocal response or otherwise came his direction. He sighed out of his nose and tried to stay alert, keeping focused on his friend. "Hey, Reid?" His left foot carefully placed itself down in front of his right foot as he unclipped his holster. "Reid, I need you to talk to me, man…" he begged. Morgan quietly pulled his pistol from his hip and took a careful aim toward Reid, but not directly at him. He stayed close to the booths on the opposite side of the small diner so as not to sneak up on Reid or startle him. This also gave him a better line of sight.

Once he was directly across the room from Reid, he began to make out some detail on Reid's appearance. He'd had a hard last couple of days, probably roaming around outside. "Reid, it's Morgan. Can you hear me?" Morgan started stepping toward Reid who had suddenly went quiet. _He heard me…,_ Morgan let himself hope. He relaxed a little and holstered his weapon after he could see both of Reid's hands on his lap from where he stood. He couldn't see a weapon anywhere, though he didn't whole-heartedly trust in that.

When Morgan reached out to touch the table as he was about to sit down opposite of Reid, he felt it wobble beneath the weight of his hand. He sat down and stared at Reid and began devising a plan to move him out of here, willingly or not. "You're scarin' the shit outta me, kid," he mumbled and he began to look Reid's condition over. Reid's eyes shot down and then back and forth as he hunkered down where he sat. Morgan thought he saw that his forehead was bruised on both sides. He sighed as he immediately pictured Reid repeatedly hitting himself over the head. "Where the hell have you been?" Reid wouldn't answer him. "I need you to come with me Reid. We need to get you some help."

"Shhh!" Reid finally looked into Morgan's eyes, obviously annoyed. "You're going to blow my cover!" he whispered harshly at Morgan. He sat straight up again.

"You're under cover right now?" Morgan questioned.

"The elderly man over there?" Reid nodded in the direction of the counter behind them. "He's involved in the biggest theft ring _this_ side of the Mississippi."

"Is that so?" Morgan asked with his brow high on his forehead.

Reid nodded confidently.

"But we don't generally deal with this type of crime."

"I'm on a very, _very special assignment_."

"I don't think Hotch would assign any one of us a case like this, Reid." For just a quick second, Morgan thought he saw some clarity come through in Reid's eyes. He wasn't sure what did it though. Was it something specific he said like the mentioning of Hotch and the others? Was it just being there? The sound of his voice? He could see Reid's posture change back to that weak, shoulders hunkered position and he started cringing while beginning a steady rhythm of rocking back and forth. Morgan had seen enough.

"Come on, man. We need to go." Morgan stood up out of the booth and came to Reid's side. He held out his hand to Reid who shook his head and mumbled _No. _That's when Morgan began to pull the table out from between the booths. "If you don't come with me willingly, I will remove you from that seat." Reid cowered down in the seat again and the fear in his eyes made Morgan's chest tighten. He felt tears coming and wasn't sure if he could stop them. He removed his phone from his side and dialed Hotch. He watched Reid rock back and forth as the call connected. "Hotch, I got him, but I need your help." Morgan stared at Reid as his eyes welled up. "I can't do this."

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_**I wrote this little guy for neutral-gray on tumblr! Wanted to get it posted here to add to my growing collection. :)**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

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Morgan pushed with each step, walking down the bland colored corridor until he stopped at Reid's room. This place was damn near silent, but he could feel the quiet chaos that seemed to roam the empty halls. It was as if there were souls in limbo surrounding him, disembodied from their vessels. He tried to shake it off, not believing in that type of thing… He closed his eyes and took a second to breathe and calm his senses. After all, this was going to be the first time he'd seen Reid since Reid's… It was painful to even think about it. _Why_ did this happen? Morgan opened his eyes and turned around, hearing someone approaching.

"Can I help you?" the pretty nurse with the southern drawl offered.

Morgan glanced her up and down without meaning to. He'd hoped it came off as a professional observation more than anything, if she'd even noticed. "Yeah, my name is Derek Morgan. I'm with the FBI. I came to see my partner? Uhh, _Dr._ Spencer Reid?" Morgan was nervous.

"He's right here," she smiled warmly and confirmed the room they were standing next to was his. "I was about to give him his medications."

"Oh…" Morgan instantly felt like he was interrupting. He looked all around the door way, avoiding looking through the 8x8 inch window at Reid and then gave her an unsure smile. "Sorry, they said I could just come on back."

She smiled warmly again. Morgan got the hint that she was throwing some sparks his way. "It only takes a second. Come on in…"

Morgan intently watched, standing behind her as she unlocked Reid's door and gulped down some emotional tension, then he leaned his head left and right to stretch his neck muscles, trying to relieve some physical tension. He just didn't know what to expect.

"Doctor?" she announced. "It's Ida Bell. How are you today?"

Morgan smirked the tiniest bit after hearing her name; deep southern roots on that gal. When she moved off toward the left, Morgan could see the back of Reid's as he sat in a chair, facing the window. He stayed back, standing in the doorway, quiet…

"Hello, Ida Bell." Reid's voice sounded normal, maybe just a little more soft spoken than usual. "I'm, I'm actually doing pretty good today. I…" and then Reid just stopped talking.

"Doctor, are you ready for your medications?"

Morgan could hear that she was speaking louder, like she knew she had lost his attention.

"Do you smell that?" Reid suddenly asked.

"Smell what, Doctor?"

"Who's here?" he nearly whispered.

"Doctor, take your medication."

Morgan watched attentively as Reid downed several pills from tiny paper cups and then drank a full glass of water.

"Who's here?" Reid repeated, sounding nervous himself.

"Your partner? Derek Morgan from the FBI?"

Reid slowly nodded.

Morgan watched the nurse give Reid's shoulder a gentle squeeze and then she began to head back to the door where Morgan stood. She pulled him outside of the room and held the door nearly closed. "Just speak to him like you normally would. He's doing great. He's responding the medication with little side effects." Something changed in her eyes as she held Morgan's gaze. "He could really use your company. He talks about you all the time."

Morgan nodded, clearing his throat as it tightened.

Ida Bell could see how nervous he was. "He's not dangerous. If you should need anything, I will be in the room just across the way."

She opened the door for him again and he stepped inside and he looked back as the door clicked shut. He rubbed his hands together as he very slowly walked over to Reid. He stood next to where Reid was sitting and the two remained silent as they looked out the window.

Morgan's eyes began to grow curious after a small while and he started to glance around. He could see Reid had been keeping up on his reading. He was happy to see that. He saw notebook on the window sill and decided to open it, but what he saw frightened him and he closed it immediately. The same words were written over and over and over. He could tell the notebook was full of this.

"I had a seizure yesterday," Reid said out of the blue.

Morgan's eyes immediately trained on Reid. "What?"

"That's what they tell me anyway. I don't remember anything."

That sunk a boulder into Morgan's gut and it left him speechless. Supposedly Reid was getting better… but that didn't sound like it to him. Was it the medications? Was his brain misfiring from the schizophrenia? This was terrifying.

A few minutes had passed before either of them chose to speak again.

"You don't have much to say…" Reid remarked out loud, not making eye contact with Morgan.

"What the hell am I supposed to say?" Morgan wasn't mad at Reid. He was begging for an answer.

Reid hesitated, "That I was right?"

"No," Morgan refused.

"I was afraid this would happen."

Morgan couldn't even respond to that. He had no idea how to react or what to say about any of this. He turned his back to Reid and stared out the window, letting his eyes go out of focus as he looked at his parked car from two levels up. Then his eyes focused in on the security bars on the window.

When he turned around, Reid seemed to be off in his own world. He could see Reid's eyes moved left to right and slightly up and down as if he was solving an equation in his head. The fingers on his right hand seemed to be assisting his thoughts, like he was playing on piano keys in the air. He continued to watch as Reid's head twitched and then his arm also made some sort of involuntary movement and that scared Morgan. It was so hard to see Reid not in complete control of himself.

After another moment, he raised his brow, wondering where Reid's head was. Maybe he could get his attention back, "Hey…"

Reid's thoughts seemed to calm down and he looked back at Morgan like he hadn't slipped off anywhere. "How is everyone?"

Morgan sighed a little. "We miss you, kid."

There was a telling silence that lasted until Reid smiled faintly. "I miss you, too," he told Morgan looking directly into his eyes.

Morgan's Adam's apple bobbed inside of his neck and he clenched his jaw tightly. Fresh tears stung at his eyes and he tried to blink them back. Next, he cleared his throat and pulled the chair that was by the bed over to where they were in front of the window. He sat down and relaxed his arms on the armrests and they sat together in silence for a minute.

Morgan wondered if Reid would ever come back to the BAU. He wondered how long Reid would stay in this place. How long will he have to take the medication? The rest of his life? Those tears squeezed their grip around his throat again and he let out a heavy breath, trying to conceal it. This was tough. There was so much he wanted to say to Reid. The last year of their relationship had shaped into something he couldn't even begin to understand, but… what now?

"Are they treating you okay in here?" Maybe a change of subject would help.

"Yeah, actually, it's been nice. Almost a vacation… but… I get restless sometimes and…" Reid's voice trailed off.

Morgan _felt_ what he was gonna say… like being restless was never good.

"Ida Bell says I can be quite a pill when I'm irritated." He laughed a little bit. "Who knew? But yeah, lots of books, old movies, the food is edible, I can fall asleep in the bed provided; I really can't complain."

"When are you getting out?" Morgan asked very abruptly.

Reid frog faced, really kinda sad-like. "I'm sorry, Morgan… I don't know."

Morgan felt those tears coming again and looked off to his left, away from Reid and took a deep breath. Then he felt Reid's warm hand take his and that was it; he lost the battle with his worries and fears and broke down in front of the man he loved so deeply. He covered his eyes and bowed his head and let his tears fall as Reid squeezed his hand tight.

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_**I'm not sure that I'll continue this one. I wasn't even intending on writing this chapter, so we'll see. Thanks for reading! :)**_


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